The subject invention relates to the general area of amusement park rides that are self-driven. In particular, the subject invention pertains to an improved adaptation of the ferris wheel, which is a conventional amusement park ride, and is an adaptation thereof.
This invention is adapted to provide an additional dimension or dimension of movement over and above the conventional movement of a vertical ferris wheel used as an amusement ride. Specificaly, as is well known, the conventional ferris wheel amusement ride, or rides similar to the ferris wheel, is adapted to rotate while in a vertically upright plane, about a horizontally-fixed rotor. As is well known and which can be readily observed, the conventional ferris wheel apparatus is thus structured to rotate in a fixed vertical plane about a centrally disposed horizontal axle, which axle is disposed in a horizontal plane. As a result of this structural arrangement, the movement of the ferris wheel, as thus commonly known, is limited in its dimensional movement for rotation about a fixed axis in a fixed vertical plane. This latter aspect is well known in the pertinent art.
While a ferris wheel is indeed a thrill-inducing amusement ride for most people, there is always a constant quest to produce even more thrill-producing rides, with different and varying movements. In this latter respect, there is no amusement ride, of the nature of the basic overall ferris wheel movement, that has the added features of multiple dimensional movement which are in addition to the singular dimensional rotational movement described above. While many rides do produce certain multiple movement variations of a moving wheel, none are known by which a vertical wheel moves about a horizontal axis and simultaneously rolls along a horizontal path. Moreover, there is no known amusement ride known by which the wheel also moves in a circular, horizontal plane over and above the foregoing described two movements.
This invention is adapted and conceived as an improved variation of a ferris wheel that will permit a ferris wheel, as known, to move in two or even three spatial dimensional movements. The following objects of the subject invention are directed accordingly.